Insider Selling: Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) Insider Sells 3,216 Shares of Stock

Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) insider David J. Thompson sold 3,216 shares of Graco stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.31, for a total transaction of $284,004.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 27,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,406,094.26. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Graco Price Performance

NYSE GGG opened at $87.80 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $84.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $82.33. The company has a market capitalization of $14.83 billion, a PE ratio of 31.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.82. Graco Inc. has a 1 year low of $76.28 and a 1 year high of $94.77.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $519.21 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.19 million. Graco had a net margin of 22.87% and a return on equity of 21.24%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.76 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 2.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Graco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 21st were given a dividend of $0.255 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 21st. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.16%. Graco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GGG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Graco from $96.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Graco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 price objective on shares of Graco in a report on Friday, September 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.25.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Graco

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GGG. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Graco by 671.9% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,320 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $123,000 after purchasing an additional 1,149 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC acquired a new position in Graco in the 1st quarter valued at about $289,000. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in Graco by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 17,752 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,659,000 after acquiring an additional 1,377 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its position in Graco by 51.8% during the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 10,954 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,024,000 after acquiring an additional 3,740 shares during the period. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp grew its stake in shares of Graco by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 147,721 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $13,806,000 after purchasing an additional 1,912 shares during the last quarter. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Graco Company Profile

Graco Inc designs, manufactures, and markets systems and equipment used to move, measure, control, dispense, and spray fluid and powder materials worldwide. The Contractor segment offers sprayers to apply paint to walls and other structures; two-component proportioning systems that are used to spray polyurethane foam and polyurea coatings; and viscous coatings to roofs, as well as markings on roads, parking lots, athletic fields, and floors.